Is Shakespeare Dead?

Mark Twain

2020年9月 · Library of Alexandria

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Scattered here and there through the stacks of unpublished manuscript which constitute this formidable Autobiography and Diary of mine, certain chapters will in some distant future be found which deal with ÒClaimantsÓÑclaimants historically notorious: Satan, Claimant; the Golden Calf, Claimant; the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, Claimant; Louis XVII., Claimant; William Shakespeare, Claimant; Arthur Orton, Claimant; Mary Baker G. Eddy, ClaimantÑand the rest of them.ÊEminent Claimants, successful Claimants, defeated Claimants, royal Claimants, pleb Claimants, showy Claimants, shabby Claimants, revered Claimants, despised Claimants, twinkle starlike here and there and yonder through the mists of history and legend and traditionÑand oh, all the darling tribe are clothed in mystery and romance, and we read about them with deep interest and discuss them with loving sympathy or with rancorous resentment, according to which side we hitch ourselves to.ÊIt has always been so with the human race.ÊThere was never a Claimant that couldnÕt get a hearing, nor one that couldnÕt accumulate a rapturous following, no matter how flimsy and apparently unauthentic his claim might be.ÊArthur OrtonÕs claim that he was the lost Tichborne baronet come to life again was as flimsy as Mrs. EddyÕs that she wrote Science and Health from the direct dictation of the Deity; yet in England near forty years ago Orton had a huge army of devotees and incorrigible adherents, many of whom remained stubbornly unconvinced after their fat god had been proven an impostor and jailed as a perjurer, and to-day Mrs. EddyÕs following is not only immense, but is daily augmenting in numbers and enthusiasm.ÊOrton had many fine and educated minds among his adherents, Mrs. Eddy has had the like among hers from the beginning.ÊHer church is as well equipped in those particulars as is any other church.ÊClaimants can always count upon a following, it doesnÕt matter who they are, nor what they claim, nor whether they come with documents or without.ÊIt was always so.ÊDown out of the long-vanished past, across the abyss of the ages, if you listen you can still hear the believing multitudes shouting for Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel.